The Gospel according to Tupperware

It’s pretty difficult to get
excited about plastic food containers, don’t you think? That said, since their inception in the
1940s, Tupperware have done a phenomenal job of marketing their product.

They have been so successful that they
have become to food containers what bic is to ball point pens and sellotape is to adhesive
tape. They were one of the early
pioneers of ‘social proof’ – relying on friends to market to each other rather
than all the marketing coming ‘from the top’. Long before we had ever thought of trading with each other
online and checking out each other’s feedback ratings, people were picking up
the Tupperware in other people’s kitchens and thinking ‘well if she uses it, maybe I should too’.

Social proof

Social proof is now a
discipline all of its own, with advocates, experts and forums to prove it! Professor Robert Cialdini conducted a survey into the impact of notices in hotel
rooms which encouraged clients to reuse their towels. The replacement of a
standard notice with the words: “75% of other guests in this hotel use their towels more than once” brought 25% more
uptake. Adding the words ‘in this
room’ brought even more.

We are social creatures and
the social proof that a product or message matters to someone else is a major
influence on us. The billions of
dollars poured into social media marketing, where we can become ‘friends’ to a
brand of a crisp or a type of washing powder are further evidence of this.

Religious professionals

All this has major
consequences for the role of the paid religious professional in spreading the 'message' of Jesus. People who choose their
car or their energy supplier because of what their friends think rather than
what the experts think may well make decisions about faith in the same way.

Writing in August 2012 Church-in-a-circle stated that ‘in this modern,
marketing-savvy world, the pastor has reduced credibility as a paid employee of
the organisation’. If the theories
of social proof are to be believed, then the role of the professional religious
communicator is secondary rather than primary in the aim to introduce others to
Christianity and its claims.

More talkative friends

When Jesus looked out at his
faithful band of followers and told them to ‘go into all the world and make
disciples’ (Matthew 28: 19-20) there was not a religious professional amongst
them. They were all from other
walks of life. As the Jesus
movement gathered pace and spawned churches, denominations and professionals to
staff them, all of that changed. In time there would be not only local church professionals, but the
itinerant ‘sales force’ of the Christian world – exporting the Gospel from village
to village and continent to continent.

To suggest that all of these
things should be abandoned in an attempt to turn back the clock would seem sheer
folly. We have churches and
denominations, and we need people with training to look after them. Not only that, but the skill base built
up by para-church organisations can benefit us all. I think what we need is not
fewer professionals, but more talkative friends who will provide the ‘Gospel of
life’ with the social proof it deserves.

A velvet rope

Some people describe social
proof as the ‘velvet rope syndrome’. If you put up a velvet rope outside a shop or a restaurant, it will not
be long before somebody starts queuing outside it from sheer curiosity. Wouldn’t it be great if the faith that
makes us tick was so ‘relateable’ and naturally attractive that it 'put up a velvet rope' and people couldn't help be drawn to it out of sheer
curiosity?

What do you think makes
people want to share their beliefs?

Do you think sharing your
faith is appropriate, or do you prefer it to be a ‘private’ thing?

Bible Reflections

Every week, in hundreds of churches and Christian organisations across the UK,
leaders and congregations wrestle with the bible to determine both its meaning and
application for our lives today. This website aims to bring together this material
— both in written and spoken word — in
a way that is structured and easily accessible.